System and method for providing virtual coaching

ABSTRACT

A system for providing coaching includes a system that creates a user-specific coach to assist a user in achieving one or more goals, such as, e.g., a financial goal. The coach is generated based on one or more traits of the user to increase the likelihood that the user will relate and respond to communications from the coach in a manner that enables the user to achieve his/her goal. The traits used by the system to create the coach can include traits input directly by a user, as well as user traits deduced by the system by monitoring various types of user behavior, including the user&#39;s usage of computing devices, habits, etc. The system also adapts the coaching provided by the coach in response to trends noted by the coaching system as the system is used by the user as well as others.

BACKGROUND

The ability of an individual to successfully follow and stick to afinancial plan to achieve his/her financial goals is enhanced throughthe use of a financial coach. Among other things, financial coaches may:alert the individual to any issues or problems with his/her financialplan, assist the individual with financial decisions, ensure that theindividual does not stray from their selected financial plan, etc.

Currently, options for individuals seeking financial coaching includehuman financial advisors or predefined non-specific virtual coachingprograms. While coaching provided by a human advisor may be targeted toa specific individual's needs, goals, personality, etc., factors suchas, e.g., economic costs, advisor availability and/or access, inabilityof a human advisor to provide round-the-clock, undivided attention tothe needs of a single user, etc. may limit the effectiveness of suchcoaching from a human advisor.

Although current, predefined non-specific virtual coaching programs mayovercome the economic and accessibility limitations of receivingcoaching from human advisors, such generic, non-specific virtualcoaching programs are often ineffective in assisting a user achievehis/her goals. In particular, the lack of tailoring of current,predefined non-specific virtual coaching programs to suit thepersonality, habits, goals, needs, etc. of a specific user and/or theinability of such predefined, non-specific virtual coaching programs tocustomize the content or manner of delivering coaching to a user oftenmake it unlikely that a user will positively react to and engage withthe virtual coaching to the degree required for such a generic virtualcoaching program to successfully assist the user in implementing a planthat would allow the user to achieve his/her goals.

SUMMARY

One arrangement of the present disclosure is a method of providingvirtual financial coaching to a user. The method includes creating, by acomputing device of a provider, a baseline virtual coach defined by oneor more coach features. A graphical user interface to be displayed by amobile application on a user device on which the mobile application isstored is transmitted by the provider computing device. The graphicaluser interface includes one or more user selectable options allowing auser to select one or more features that are to define a user-specificvirtual coach. One or more selections input by the user via thegraphical user interface are received by the provider computing device.A user-specific virtual coach based on features of the baseline virtualcoach and the feature selections received from the user is created bythe provider computing device. A financial goal of the user isidentified by the provider computing device. A communication to the usercontaining information related to the financial goal of the user iscreated by the provider computing device. At least one feature of thecommunication is based on a feature of the user-specific virtual coach.The communication is sent by the provider computing device to a deviceof a user.

Another arrangement of the present disclosure is a system for providingvirtual financial coaching to a user. A provider computing systeminclude one or more circuits configured to: transmit a graphical userinterface to be displayed by a mobile application on a user device onwhich the mobile application is stored, the graphical user interfaceincluding one or more user selectable options allowing a user to selectone or more features that are to define a user-specific virtual coach;receive one of more selections input by the user via the graphical userinterface; create a user-specific virtual coach based on features of thebaseline virtual coach and the feature selections received from theuser; identify a financial goal of the user; create a communication tothe user containing information related to the financial goal of theuser, wherein at least one feature of the communication is based on afeature of the user-specific virtual coach; and send the communicationto a device of a user.

Another arrangement of the present disclosure is a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having processor-readable instructions storedthereon such that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:transmit a graphical user interface to be displayed by a mobileapplication on a user device on which the mobile application is stored,the graphical user interface including one or more user selectableoptions allowing the user to select one or more of the features that areto define a user-specific virtual coach; receive one or more selectionsinput by the user via the graphical user interface; create auser-specific virtual coach based on the baseline virtual coach and theselections received from the user; identify a financial goal of a user;create a communication containing information related to the financialgoal, wherein at least one feature of the communication is based on afeature of the user-specific virtual coach; and send the communicationto a device of a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects and features of the present disclosure willbecome more apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description of the example arrangements with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system for providing virtual coaching accordingto an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the provider computing system set forth in FIG. 1according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a process or method for providing virtualcoaching, according to an example embodiment;

FIGS. 4A-4C are diagrams illustrating an interactive display forcustomizing the features of a virtual coach by a user, according to anexample embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a communication from the virtualcoaching system, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Given that the likelihood of a user following and thereby benefitingfrom the advice offered by a financial coach is often dependent on thecompatibility of the coaching personality/persona with the individualuser and his/her financial goals and the targeting of the contents,manner, and frequency of communication provided by the coach to thehabits and preferences of a user, it would be desirable to provide avirtual coach having variable personas/personalities that can beadjusted and modified to best suit the unique traits of the individualand his/her financial goals, and which is configured to provide coachingin a manner that is most relevant to (and therefore most likely to befollowed by) a user.

Referring generally to FIGS. 1-5, systems and methods for providing auser-specific virtual coach to assist a user in achieving a goalaccording to various arrangements are shown. In general, a computingsystem associated with a provider is configured to receive informationrelated to a user, such as, e.g., a financial goal of a user. Thefinancial goal may be broad and open-ended (e.g., overall financialhealth), or may be defined by one or more specific desired end results(e.g., purchase of a new car, establishment of a college fund). Afinancial plan is developed, which outlines steps for achieving thefinancial goal of the user. The computing system is configured togenerate a virtual coach characterized by features that are specific tothe user and/or the financial goal of the user. Once the virtual coachhas been created, the computing system utilizes the virtual coach toprovide information and feedback to the user in a manner that has beendetermined to be the most effective way in which to relay information tothe user. Thus, using the virtual coaching systems and methods employedherein, the likelihood that a user will achieve his/her financial goalis increased.

The arrangements and implementations of the systems and methodsdisclosed herein improve current systems for providing a user withcoaching for financial health, by making financial coaching accessibleto all users, irrespective of assets, types of accounts held by theuser, the availability of the user, etc., and by customizing andtailoring the coaching to an individual user. In particular, the systemsand methods disclosed herein are configured to identify goals specificto the user and then create a plan best suited to the individual needsof the user, and are also configured to create a virtual coach havingtraits and features that correspond to traits and features that are mostrelevant to the personality, habits, lifestyle, etc. of the user so asto increase the likelihood that the virtual coaching provided by thevirtual coach will effectively impact, influence and assist the user inimplementing the plan to achieve his/her goal.

Additionally, by being configured to base the traits and features of thevirtual coach on both explicitly and implicitly collected informationrelated to the user, the systems and methods disclosed herein areconfigured to tailor the virtual coaching not only on specific,communicated requests and information provided by the user, but also ontraits and features correlated to various monitored user behavior,traits, activities, etc. that the user himself/herself may not haveappreciated, realized or recognized as being features and traits thatwould be relevant to the creation of the virtual coach. Also, bycontinuously gathering, processing and analyzing information collectedbased on previous and current uses of the user-specific virtual coachingsystem by the user and/or other individuals, the systems and methodsdisclosed herein are configured to continuously improve theeffectiveness with which customized virtual coaching is provided tousers.

Moreover, in addition to providing an improved method and system forproviding a user with coaching, the various features and aspects of thesystems and methods disclosed herein also improve upon existing personalelectronic devices and electronic information sources (e.g., databases,websites, social networking programs, etc.) accessible with suchdevices. For example, by providing a source of user behavior,activities, etc., that can be used to obtain implicit information thatthe user himself/herself may not be aware of and/or information thatwould not be obtainable by a human advisor, the technical utility andeffectiveness of the electronic information source is improved, in thatthe ability of the electronic content source to assist in the effectivecoaching of an individual is enhanced. Similarly, by utilizinguser-specific data to tailor and curate (among other things) thecontents, frequency, and mode of coaching communications in a mannerthat is most relevant to a user, and by allowing for actionable coachingadvice to be delivered to a user in real-time when such advice is mostlikely to impact a user, the technical utility and effectiveness of theelectronic devices is also improved, in that the ability of theelectronic device to assist in the effective coaching of an individualis enhanced.

As shown in FIG. 1, according to one arrangement, the virtual coachingsystem 100 includes a provider computing system 110, a user computingdevice 120, a variable display device 130, and a third-party system 140.The various components of the virtual coaching system 100 are configuredto communicate with each other over a network 150. The network 150 is adata exchange medium, which includes wireless networks (e.g., cellularnetworks, Bluetooth®, WiFi, Zigbee®, etc.), wired networks (e.g.,Ethernet, DSL, cable, fiber-based, etc.), or a combination thereof. Insome arrangements, the network 150 includes the internet.

The provider computing system 110 is a computing system at a providerconfigured to create a virtual coach intended to assist a user inachieving his/her goal(s). According to some arrangements, the providercomputing system 110 is operated by a provider of financial services,such as, e.g. a bank, credit union, investment brokerage, or any otherorganization, institution or system that provides financial services,with the one or more goals which the virtual coaching system 100 isconfigured to assist the user in achieving being related to financialgoals of the user. According to various arrangements, the providercomputing system 110 is adapted to provide additional services inaddition to the creation of a virtual coach.

Among other types of user information, the provider computing system 110is configured to receive information related to the goals and/or virtualcoach preferences of the user from the user computing device 120 and/orthird-party system 140 over the network 150. In response to thisreceived information, the provider computing system 110 is configured topresent to the user via the user computing device 120 and/or variabledisplay device 130 communications from a user-specific virtual coach. Inaddition to (or as an alternative to) the communications from thevirtual coach that are provided via the user computing device 120 and/orvariable display device 130, the virtual coach provided by the providercomputing system 110 is also adapted to instruct the third-party system140 to perform/effectuate one or more actions configured to assist withaccomplishing the goal of the user. As such, the virtual coach that isprovided to the user via the user computing device 120, variable displaydevice 130 and/or third-party system 140 is configured to assist theuser in implementing a plan intended to assist the user in achieving oneor more goals.

The user computing device 120 is a computing system associated with auser, and may include any wearable and non-wearable device. Wearabledevices refer to any type of device that an individual wears including,but not limited to, a watch (e.g., smart watch), glasses (e.g., eyeglasses, sunglasses, smart glasses, etc.), bracelet (e.g., a smartbracelet), etc. User computing device 120 may also include any type ofmobile device including, but not limited to, a phone (e.g., smart phone,etc.) and a computing device (e.g., desktop computer, laptop computer,personal digital assistant, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 1, user computing device 120 generally comprises anetwork interface 121, a processing circuit 122, and an input/outputcircuit 123. Network interface 121 includes program logic thatfacilitates connection of the user computing device 120 to the network150. Accordingly, the network interface 121 supports communication vianetwork 150 between the user computing device 120, the providercomputing system 110, variable display device 130, and third-partysystem 140. The network interface 121 may include a cable modem, abroadband modem, a cellular modem, a Bluetooth transceiver, a Bluetoothbeacon, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) transceiver, and/or anear-field communication (NFC) transmitter. In some embodiments, thenetwork interface 121 includes cryptography capabilities to establish asecure or relatively secure communication session.

The processing circuit 122 is configured to at least partly control theuser computing device 120 as described herein. The processing circuit122 includes one or more memory devices 125 and processor 126. Theprocessor 126 may be implemented as a general-purpose processor, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), one or more fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), a digital signal processor (DSP), agroup of processing components, or other suitable electronic processingcomponents. The one or more memory devices 125 (e.g., RAM, ROM, NVRAM,Flash Memory, hard disk storage, etc.) may store data and/or computercode for facilitating at least some of the various processes describedherein. In this regard, the one or more memory devices 125 may storeprogramming logic that, when executed by the processor 126, controls theoperation of the user computing device 120.

The input/output circuit 123 is structured to receive from and providecommunication(s) to a user of the user computing device 120. Theinput/output circuit 123 includes one or more input/output componentsthat interface with a user (e.g., screens, speakers, microphones,remotes, buttons, touchscreens, vibration mechanisms) as well as anycombination of hardware components, communication circuitry, andmachine-readable media for facilitating the exchange of informationbetween the input/output components and elements of the user computingdevice 120, including the processing circuit 122 and the networkinterface 121. For example, in an embodiment where the user computingdevice 120 is a smartphone or a tablet, the input/output components mayinclude a touch screen, one or more speakers, one or more microphones,one or more cameras, and/or a fingerprint reader. In an embodiment wherethe user computing device 120 is a television, the input/outputcomponents may include a television display (e.g.,liquid-crystal-display, plasma display, light-emitting-diode display),one or more speakers, and a remote control with buttons that can bepressed by a user. In an embodiment where the user computing device 120is a smart watch, the input/output components may include a screen, aspeaker, a vibration generator, and a touch-sensitive bezel, screen,and/or buttons. The input/output circuit 123 thereby facilitates two-waytransfer of information between a user and a user computing device 120.As will be understood, according to various embodiments, the variabledisplay device 130 may comprise the output component(s) of theinput/output components of the user computing device 120.

As noted above, according to various arrangements the user computingdevice 120 may be defined by any number of different devices.Additionally, according to various arrangements, the user computingdevice 120 may comprise a plurality of the same or different devices. Insome such arrangements, some or all of the multiple devices defining theuser computing device 120 are used simultaneously to receive informationfrom the other component(s) of the virtual coaching system 100 (e.g., insome arrangements communications from the provider computing system 110are simultaneously transmitted to each of the user computing devices120). Alternatively, or additionally, in some arrangements,information/communication from other components of the virtual coachingsystem 100 are selectively transmitted to only some of the specificindividual devices defining the user computing device 120. For example,in some arrangements certain types of communications are sentexclusively to a particular type of device (e.g. a smartwatch) definingthe user computing device 120, while other types of communications aresent exclusively to another particular type of device (e.g. asmartphone) defining the user computing device 120. In otherarrangements, the selection of a particular device is alternatively, oradditionally, based on other factors, such as, e.g., the timing of thecommunication, the content of the communication, the type of device fromwhich the last communication from the user computing device 120 wasreceived, etc. As will be described in more detail below, according tovarious arrangements, the selection of which of the one or more devicesdefining the user computing device 120 that communications aretransmitted to may be based on information stored in the virtual coachdatabase 232 that has been acquired by the adaptive circuit 236 over thecourse of the operation of the virtual coaching system 100.

According to various arrangements, the user computing device 120 mayinclude a virtual coaching application 124 obtained from the providercomputing system 110 via which the user computing device 120 isconfigured to receive information from and transmit information to theprovider computing system 110 related to the virtual coaching system100. The virtual coaching application 124 facilitates receiving anddisplaying communications to and from the virtual coaching circuit 112.Thus, the virtual coaching application 124 facilitates the coachingprovided by the virtual coaching system 100.

In some arrangements, the virtual coaching application 124 isincorporated with an existing application provided by the providercomputing system 110 and stored or otherwise accessible by the usercomputing device 120. In other arrangements, the virtual coachingapplication 124 may be a separate application provided by the providercomputing system 110. The virtual coaching application 124 may bedownloaded by the user computing device 120 prior to its usage, may behard coded into the memory of the user computing device 120, or may be aweb-based interface application that is executed and maintainedremotely, and which is displayed and made accessible to a user via a webbrowser (or other client interface) of the user computing device 120. Inthe latter instance, the user may have to log onto or access theweb-based interface before usage of the virtual coaching application124. In certain embodiments, the virtual coaching application 124 mayinclude an application programming interface (API) and/or a softwaredevelopment kit (SDK) that facilitate the integration of otherapplications with the virtual coaching application 124.

The variable display device 130 is a device configured to present to auser visual, audio, and/or haptic communications from any of theprovider computing system 110, user computing device 120, and/or thethird-party system 140 in response to communication received directly orindirectly from the provider computing system 110 via the network 150 bya network interface 131 of the variable display device 130. The networkinterface 131 of the variable display device 130 may include a cablemodem, a broadband modem, a cellular modem, a Bluetooth transceiver, aBluetooth beacon, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) transceiver,and/or a near-field communication (NFC) transmitter. In someembodiments, the network interface 131 includes cryptographycapabilities to establish a secure or relatively secure communicationsession.

According to various arrangements, the variable display device 130presents coaching-related communications to the user from theuser-specific virtual coach provided by the provider computing system110 that are intended to inform, guide, instruct, encourage, orotherwise assist the user towards achieving his/her goal. The variabledisplay device 130 comprises any number of various devices such as, butnot limited to: digital assistant devices, smartphones, tablets,wearables, laptop or desktop computers, televisions, gaming devices,on-board vehicle controllers, smart home-appliances, etc. capable oftransmitting visual, audio, and/or haptic communications. As will beexplained in more detail below, according to various arrangements, thetransmission of communications from the virtual coach provided by theprovider computing system 110 to the variable display device 130 is inpart based in response to usage or patterns of usage of the variabledisplay device 130 by the user that is detected or sensed by a userprofile circuit 231 provided by the provider computing system 110.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, according to various embodiments, the variabledisplay device 130 may additionally include a processing circuit 132including one or more memory devices 133 and a processor 134. Theprocessor 134 may be implemented as a general-purpose processor, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), one or more fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), a digital signal processor (DSP), agroup of processing components, or other suitable electronic processingcomponents. The one or more memory devices 133 (e.g., RAM, ROM, NVRAM,Flash Memory, hard disk storage, etc.) may store data and/or computercode for facilitating at least some of the various processes describedherein. In this regard, the one or more memory devices 133 may storeprogramming logic that, when executed by the processor 134, controls theoperation of the variable display device 130.

As further illustrated in FIG. 1, according to various embodiments, thevariable display device 130 includes an input/output circuit 136structured to receive communications from the provider computing system110 and/or user computing device 120, in response to which the variabledisplay device 130 outputs communication(s) to a user via any one of orany combination of output components of the variable display device 130,such as, e.g., a screen, speaker, microphone, remote, button,touchscreen, vibration mechanisms, etc.

The third-party system 140 comprises any number of different devices,programs, networks or systems utilized by the user and from which theprovider computing system 110 is able to obtain additional userinformation and/or monitor user behavior and/or activity to generate amore customized and tailored user-specific virtual coach over thenetwork 150 via a network interface 141 of the third-party system 140.Additionally, or alternatively, the third-party system 140 may alsocomprise any number of different devices, programs, networks or systemscapable of being utilized by the user-specific virtual coach created byprovider computing system 110 to assist the user in realizing his/hergoal. In arrangements in which the third-party system 140 is used toboth supplement the user information available to the virtual coachingsystem 100 and to expand the ways by which the virtual coaching system100 assists the user, the devices, programs, networks and systems usedto obtain additional user information can be the same or different asthose which are utilized by the virtual coach to assist in meeting thegoal of the user.

The network interface 141 of the third-party system 140 may include acable modem, a broadband modem, a cellular modem, a Bluetoothtransceiver, a Bluetooth beacon, a radio-frequency identification (RFID)transceiver, and/or a near-field communication (NFC) transmitter. Insome embodiments, the provider network interface 111 includescryptography capabilities to establish a secure or relatively securecommunication session. As illustrated in FIG. 1, according to variousembodiments, the third-party system 140 may additionally include aprocessing circuit 142 including one or more memory devices 143 and aprocessor 144. The processor 144 may be implemented as a general-purposeprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), one ormore field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), a digital signal processor(DSP), a group of processing components, or other suitable electronicprocessing components. The one or more memory devices 143 (e.g., RAM,ROM, NVRAM, Flash Memory, hard disk storage, etc.) may store data and/orcomputer code for facilitating at least some of the various processesdescribed herein. In this regard, the one or more memory devices 143 maystore programming logic that, when executed by the processor 144,controls the operation of the third-party system 140.

Non-limiting examples of a third-party system 140 include social mediasites, smartphone or tablet applications, web-browsers, personalcomputing and mobile devices, (e.g. smartphones, tablets, portablegaming devices, personal digital assistants, laptops, desktop computers,etc.), cookies, chat sessions, call recordings, user accounts at orother institutions, GPS devices, physiological monitors, televisions andtelevision accessories (e.g., smart televisions, projectors, gamingconsoles, DVD/Blu-ray players, digital cable/satellite boxes, mediastreaming devices), voice assistants, automobile entertainment systems,wearable devices (virtual reality headsets, augmented reality headsets,smart watches, fitness trackers); etc.

Although the provider computing system 110, the user computing device120, the variable display device 130 and the third-party system 140 haveeach been described as being discrete, standalone components of thevirtual coaching system 100. It is to be understood that any combinationof one or more of these components may be incorporated into a single,multi-function device/system. For example, according to variousarrangements, a smartphone of a user functions as the user computingdevice 120, the variable display device 130 and the third-party system140 of the virtual coaching system 100. Additionally, while the virtualcoaching system 100 has been described as including a single providercomputing system 110, a single user computing device 120, a singlevariable display device 130 and a single third-party system 140, it isto be understood that the virtual coaching system 100 may include one ormore of the same of differing versions of any of these components.

Referring to FIG. 2, a more detailed representation of the components ofthe provider computing system 110 is provided. As noted above, accordingto some arrangements, the provider computing system 110 is a computingsystem associated with a financial institution configured to create andprovide a user with a user-specific virtual coach adapted to coach theuser towards accomplishing his/her financial goal. In such arrangements,the user may or may not have a financial account at the financialinstitution associated with the provider computing system 110.

The provider computing system 110 includes a processing circuit 113,which may further include a processor 115 and one or more memory devices117. The processor 115 may be implemented as a general-purposeprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), one ormore field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), a digital signal processor(DSP), a group of processing components that may be distributed overvarious geographic locations or housed in a single location, or othersuitable electronic processing components. The one or more memorydevices 117 (e.g., RAM, NVRAM, ROM, Flash Memory, hard disk storage,etc.) store data and/or computer code for facilitating the variousprocesses described herein, and may be or include tangible,non-transient volatile memory or non-volatile memory. Accordingly, theone or more memory devices 117 may include database components, objectcode components, script components, or any other type of informationstructure for supporting the various activities and informationstructures described herein. For example, the processor 115 and one ormore memory device 117 are configured to enable the provider computingsystem 110 to exchange data over the network 150, execute softwareapplications, access websites, generate graphical user interfaces, andperform other operations. According to various arrangements, theprocessing circuit 113 of the provider computing system 110 isconfigured to store and provide the virtual coaching application 124 viawhich a user computing device 120 communicates information related tothe virtual coaching circuit 112 with the provider computing system 110,

According to various arrangements, the provider computing system 110includes a provider network interface 111 enabling the providercomputing system 110 to exchange data over the network 150, a virtualcoaching circuit 112, and a system database 114. As shown in FIG. 2,according to various arrangements, the provider computing system 110also optionally includes one or more additional circuits 116 configuredto provide any number of additional services (e.g. mobile banking) thatare offered by the provider.

The provider network interface 11 includes program logic thatfacilitates connection of the provider computing system 110 to thenetwork 150. The provider network interface 111 supports communicationbetween the provider computing system 110 and other systems, such as theuser computing device 120, variable display device 130 and third-partysystem 140. According to various arrangements, the provider networkinterface 111 includes a cellular transceiver (e.g., Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Long-Term Evolution (LTE), etc.), a wireless network transceiver (e.g.,802.11X, ZigBee, Bluetooth, etc.), a radio-frequency identification(RFLD) transceiver, and a near-field communication (NFC) transmitter, orany combination thereof (e.g., both a cellular transceiver and aBluetooth transceiver). In some arrangements, the provider networkinterface 111 includes hardware and machine-readable media sufficient tosupport communication over multiple channels of data communication.Further, in some arrangements, provider network interface 111 includescryptography capabilities to establish a secure or relatively securecommunication sessions with the other systems of the virtual coachingsystem 100, such as the user computing device 120, variable displaydevice 130 and third-party system 140. In this regard, data (including,e.g., financial data) may be encrypted and transmitted to prevent orsubstantially prevent the threat of hacking.

The system database 114 allows the provider computing system 110 toretrievably store user information relating to the various operationsdiscussed herein, and includes non-transient data storage mediums (e.g.,local disc or flash based hard drives, local network servers, and thelike) or remote data storage (e.g., cloud servers). The system database114 includes information such as, but not limited to: personal userinformation (e.g., names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.),identification information (e.g., driver's license numbers, standardbiometric data, etc.), user financial information (e.g., tokeninformation, account numbers, account balances, available credit, credithistory, transaction histories, assets, etc.), user preferences, usergoal(s)/plans, user profiles (e.g. social media presence, browsinghistories, spending habits, etc.), etc.

The information stored in the system database 114 is obtained from anynumber of different sources. For example, any information and/or dataobtained or created during use of the virtual coaching system 100 issaved to the system database 114. Additionally, in arrangements in whichthe user has or had an account with the provider associated with theprovider computing system 110, the information stored in the systemdatabase 114 includes information originating with reference to thepreviously opened accounts with the provider. For example, inarrangements in which the provider is a financial institution, theadditional accounts may include, e.g., a checking account, home loan,etc. In some arrangements, the information stored in the system database114 also includes information and data obtained from uses of the usercomputing device 120 and/or third-party system 140 with providercomputing system 110 unrelated to the virtual coaching system 100.According to various arrangements, the information stored in the systemdatabase 114 includes both information and data obtained directly andindirectly from the user.

The virtual coaching system 100 is intended to provide customized andtailored virtual coaching that can assist any number of different usersin achieving their individual goals. As noted above, according tovarious arrangements, the types of goal(s) that the virtual coachingsystem 100 is used to assist a user in achieving include financialgoals, which may range from financial goals that are very specific (e.g.purchasing a new car, paying for a wedding, going on a vacation, etc.),to general (e.g. retirement, setting up a college fund, etc.) to a broadgoal of overall financial health.

In addition to being adapted to assist a user in achieving any varietyof types of goals (e.g. specific, general or overall financial health),the virtual coaching system 100 is also configured to coach the usertowards achieving his/her goals according to any number of differentplans characterized by any number of different steps, timelines,urgencies, etc. that have been developed to lead the user towardsrealizing his/her goals. Furthermore, because individuals responddifferently to various types of feedback, motivation, modes and methodsof assistance, content, etc. the virtual coaching system 100 is adaptedto utilize different approaches, personas, strategies, etc. in providingcoaching, depending on the personality and traits of the user beingcoached.

The virtual coaching circuit 112 of the provider computing system 110 isembodied or at least partly embodied in the at least one memory device117, with at least some operations being executable by the processingcircuit 113. In general, the virtual coaching circuit 112 is configuredto allow the virtual coaching system 100 to adapt as required based ongoal/plan (i.e. the type of goal and the nature of the plan required toaccomplish the goal) and/or user characteristics to provide the intendedtailored and customized user-specific virtual coaching. To that effect,as illustrated in FIG. 2, the virtual coaching circuit 112 of theprovider computing system 110 includes a user profile circuit 231, aplan creation circuit 233, a coach creation circuit 234, a coachingimplementation circuit 235, a virtual coach database 232, and anoptional adaptive circuit 236.

The user profile circuit 231 is configured to filter and narrowavailable user-specific information to obtain and provide to arequesting circuit (i.e. one or more of the other circuits of thevirtual coaching circuit 112) a relevant subset of user-specificinformation based on a received request from the requesting circuit.User-specific information that is obtained by the user profile circuit231 includes existing user-specific information that is readilyavailable and accessible by the user profile circuit 231 (“existinginformation”) and/or newly acquired and/or previously inaccessibleuser-specific information (“new information”) that is made available inresponse to a request for such information from the user profile circuit231.

Existing user-specific information that can be immediately accessed bythe user profile circuit 231 includes information that can be obtainedfrom the system database 114 and/or from the third-party system 140 overthe network 150 via the provider network interface 111. The existinginformation available from the system database 114 includes informationobtained in relationship with, e.g., existing or prior accounts held bythe user with the provider, additional provider services utilized by theuser, prior uses of the virtual coaching system 100 by the user, etc.Existing information available from the third-party system 140 includes,e.g., publicly available information obtained in relationship withexisting or prior usage of the third-party system 140 by the user.Additionally, if the user had previously authorized the third-partysystem 140 to share private information from the third-party system 140with the provider computing system 110, the existing informationavailable to the user profile circuit 231 additionally, oralternatively, includes such private information.

As noted above, according to various arrangements, the user profilecircuit 231 is also configured to request new information in response toa received request from a requesting circuit. Such new informationincludes information based on the usage of the third-party system 140 bythe user that is not publicly available (such as, e.g., financialaccount information, a private social media account, a password-enabledcomputing device, etc.) and which the user had not previously authorizedthe third-party system 140 to share with the provider computing system110.

In some arrangements, new information is also obtained by the userprofile circuit 231 directly from the user via a request transmitted bythe user profile circuit 231 over the network 150 using provider networkinterface 111 and to the user computing device 120. In sucharrangements, the user profile circuit 231 is configured to transmit tothe user computing device 120 any number of different surveys, userinput fields, communications, questionnaires, calls, messages,recordings, or any other number of and combination of prompts to whichthe user responds/replies, and from which new information is obtainedand provided to the requesting circuit. According to variousarrangements, the prompts generated by the user profile circuit 231and/or user responses to the prompts are transmitted between the usercomputing device 120 and the provider computing system 110 in the formof, e.g., a PDF or HTML document capable of being displayed on the usercomputing device 120, or via a graphical user interface generated by avirtual coaching application 124 accessed via the user computing device120 in response the prompt received by the virtual coaching application124 from the user profile circuit 231 over network 150.

The user-specific information accessible to the user profile circuit 231(either as existing information or as new information) may include bothexplicit and implicit information. Explicit information is collectedbased on direct user interactions, and includes solicited informationprovided by the user in response to a direct prompt (e.g., user answersto surveys/questionnaires, information input by a user in an applicationduring account set-up, preference settings input by a user, transcriptsfrom chat sessions/call histories, etc.). According to variousarrangements, explicit information is also collected based onunsolicited information shared by the user, e.g., user status updatesprovided by the user via social networking sites, user blog posts etc.Such explicit information is obtained by the user profile circuit 231from saved user responses stored in the system database 114, from thethird-party system 140, and/or in response to a prompt created by theuser profile circuit 231. Implicit information includes user-specificinformation that is inferred based on monitored user behaviors andactivities obtained from any number of different types of sources, suchas, e.g., financial transactions, types of computing devices used by theuser, physiological monitors, call/chat/text histories, informationstored by cookies, mobile application utilization by the user, user webbrowsing histories, geolocation data associated with devices utilized bythe user, social media usage/posts by the user, etc.

Instructions received by the user profile circuit 231 from a requestingcircuit (the plan creation circuit 233, the coach creation circuit 234,or the coaching implementation circuit 235) include a request foruser-specific information having a specific scope. Upon receiving theinstructions form the requesting circuit, the user profile circuit 231is configured to identify specific parameters by which the user profilecircuit 231 filters and narrow all available user-specific informationdown to a small subset of relevant information that is to be provided tothe requesting circuit. According to some arrangements, in addition tocontaining a request for user-specific information having a specificscope, the instructions from the requesting circuit also includeadditional variables by which the user profile circuit 231 is to filteruser-specific information that is to be provided to the requestingcircuit. Such variables may include limitations on, e.g., the source ofthe information, whether the user-information is to include existinginformation and/or new information, whether explicit and/or implicitinformation is desired, whether the user-specific information is to belimited to information related to a particular timeframe, etc.

As will be understood, according to various arrangements, as analternative to (or in addition to) including user profile circuit 231,any or all of the requesting circuits may be configured to be capable ofindependently obtaining user information (including, e.g. existing, new,implicit and/or implicit information) as needed in a mannersubstantially similar to what has been described with regards to userprofile circuit 231.

As will be described in greater detail below, the virtual coach database232 allows the virtual coaching circuit 112 to retrievably storeinformation relating to the various operations of the virtual coachingcircuit 112 discussed herein, and includes non-transient data storagemediums (e.g., local disc or flash based hard drives, local networkservers, and the like) or remote data storage (e.g., cloud servers). Thevirtual coach database 232 includes data, correlations, rules, etc. bywhich, e.g. parameters via which the user profile circuit 231 is tofilter available user-specific data to obtain and provide relevantuser-specific information to a requesting circuit is defined, datarelevant to the creation of a plan, the selection of virtual coachpersona traits, and manners in which the virtual coach is toassist/interact with the user is extracted by the logic of the plancreation circuit 233, coach creation circuit 234 and/or coachingimplementation circuit 235; user progress towards a goal/implementationof the plan is assessed; etc.

The data, correlations, logic, or other contents of the virtual coachdatabase 232 are user-created/defined and/or are based on processed datathat has been aggregated from any number of different sources,including, e.g. the system database 114, third-party system 140, dataaggregated and stored based on prior uses of the virtual coaching system100 by the user or other individuals, etc. According to somearrangements, the contents of the virtual coach database 232 aregenerally static, with the virtual coach database 232 being updated onlyin response to pre-planned and/or user requested updates. In otherarrangements, the virtual coach database 232 is adaptive, with thecontents of the virtual coach database 232 being subject to real-timeupdates as new data/information is acquired/sensed by adaptive circuit236, the system database 114, the third-party system 140 or any othersource that further refines the ability of the virtual coach database232 to assist in, e.g., structuring queries for user-specificinformation; correlating obtained user-specific information to datausable by the virtual coaching circuit 112 to better customize andtailor the virtual coaching to the user, providing content that is mosteffective in assisting the user in implementing a plan, monitoring theprogress of a user toward a goal/implementing a plan, etc.

The plan creation circuit 233 is configured to create a plan intended toassist a user in realizing one or more goals of the user. According tovarious arrangements, the plan creation circuit 233 has varied levels ofinvolvement in development of the plan. For example, in somearrangements, the plan creation circuit 233 merely serves as aninterface that imports (e.g. via the network 150 using provider networkinterface 111) existing plan information, and makes the informationrelated to the plan available and accessible to other portions of thevirtual coaching circuit 112. In such arrangements, the plan creationcircuit 233 is configured to instruct the user profile circuit 231 toobtain information indicative of the existence of a previously developedplan for a user. Examples of such existing plans and their sourcesinclude: plans stored in the system database 114 of the providercomputing system 110 (e.g. a plan developed by a different, distinctadditional circuit 116 of the provider computing system 110 that hasbeen saved in the system database 114); plans imported from athird-party planning system that is provided by a device, system,program or network of the third-party system 140 via the providernetwork interface 111; etc. For example, in arrangements in which theprovider is a financial institution, and the plan includes a financialplan for achieving one or more financial goals of the user, one exampleof a source of an existing financial plan may be a financial plandeveloped by a financial advisor of the financial institution anduploaded to the system database 114.

If no existing plan has been identified, and/or if a newly created planis intended to replace or modify a previously developed plan, the logicof the plan creation circuit 233 is configured to create a plan for theuser by identifying one or more goals of a user, assessing thecriticality of the goal to the user, identifying steps and a timelinefor how the goal is to be achieved, and optionally identifyingparameters by which progress toward the goal is monitored.

According to some arrangements, goals of a user are identified by theplan creation circuit 233 in response to instructions being provided bythe plan creation circuit 233 to the user profile circuit 231 to obtainexplicitly provided user information related to the identification ofone or more user goals. In such arrangements in which the explicituser-specific information requested is also requested to be based atleast in part on new information, the user profile circuit 231 isconfigured to transmit over the network 150, via the provider networkinterface 111 and to the user computing device 120 a prompt in the formof, e.g., a PDF or HTML document capable of being displayed on the usercomputing device 120, a graphical user interface generated by a virtualcoaching application 124 accessible by the user computing device 120,etc. with the prompt containing one or more requested user-input fieldsvia which the user inputs information explicitly relevant to theidentification of one or more goals of the user. According to variousarrangements, the content of these user-input fields is based onparameters defined by the user profile circuit 231 at least partially inresponse to information stored in the virtual coach database 232.

According to some arrangements, the plan creation circuit 233 isconfigured to supplement (or entirely substitute) goals identified viaexplicit user input, with goals identified based on implicituser-specific information obtained by user profile circuit 231 based onone or both of existing or new information. Such an option isadvantageous as it may, e.g., minimize the degree of direct user inputor engagement required by the virtual coaching system 100 to providevirtual coaching to the user; be able to identify goals relevant to theuser that the user was not able to identify him/herself; etc.

In particular, a user may not always be able to identify, recognizeand/or effectively express or relay information regarding variousself-attributes; may confound certain features as being indicative ofspecific attributes and/or identify desired, idealized, or expectedfuture attributes instead identifying current, actual attributes; or mayotherwise fail to accurately respond to prompts related to his/her ownattributes. Accordingly, in some arrangements, in addition to (or as analternative to) instructing the user profile circuit 231 to create aprompt to obtain new, explicitly provided information from the user, theuser profile circuit 231 is instructed to obtain existing or newimplicit information relevant to the identification of user goals. Forexample, in some arrangements, the prompt created and transmitted by theuser profile circuit 231 to the user may also (or alternatively) containone or more requested user-input fields via which the user inputsinformation implicitly relevant the identification of one or more goalsof the user. According to various arrangements, the content of theseuser-input fields are based on parameters defined by the user profilecircuit 231 at least partially in response to information stored in thevirtual coach database 232, and includes input fields requesting theuser to provide information related to, e.g. biographical information(e.g. age, marital status, gender, education level, race, address,profession, whether the user has children, etc.); various life and/orpreferences (e.g. living arrangement preferences, traveling goals,spending habits, hobbies, etc.); user financial history (e.g. types ofaccounts, assets, debts, monthly financial obligations, etc.),current/future life goals (possible career changes, future educationplans, anticipated future travel, having children, etc.); etc. As willbe understood, if the identification of user goals is based in part orentirely on implicit user information, the identification of one or moreuser goals by the plan creation circuit 233 includes the additional stepof utilizing the logic of the plan creation circuit 233 to extract dataindicative of one or more goals based on the analysis of the implicituser information in light of information obtained from the virtual coachdatabase 232.

As will be described in more detail below, according to somearrangements, an optionally included adaptive circuit 236 is configuredto continuously aggregate data, which over the course of time is able toidentify various goals that are applicable to the all users (e.g.financial goals that are applicable to the financial health of allusers), irrespective of the background to the specific user.Accordingly, in some arrangements in which the virtual coach is toassist the user with achieving financial goals, instead of identifyingspecific user financial goals which the plan is intended to assist theuser in achieving, the plan creation circuit 233 is configured toautomatically assign to each user a financial goal of general financialhealth.

Once one or more goals of the user have been identified by the plancreation circuit 233, according to some arrangements, the steps and atimeline for how the goal is to be achieved, the assessment of thecriticality of the goal, and parameters by which progress toward thegoal is monitored are automatically identified by the plan creationcircuit 233 based on information stored in the virtual coach database232 correlating various goals to step and timelines for achieving suchgoals and/or parameters by which progress of the goal is monitored. Inother arrangements, the plan creation circuit 233 is configured toidentify one or both of the steps and a timeline for how the goal isachieved, and parameters by which progress toward the goal is monitoredbased on direct user input received, e.g., in response to a promptgenerated and transmitted to the user computing device 120 over thenetwork 150 and via the provider network interface 111, either directlyby the plan creation circuit 233 or by the user profile circuit 231 inresponse to the receipt of instructions from the plan creation circuit233.

Following the assessment of the criticality of the goal, theidentification of the steps and a timeline for how the goal is achieved,and optional parameters by which progress toward the goal is monitored,the plan creation circuit 233 is configured to create the plan.According to some arrangement, the plan creation circuit 233 optionallyprovides the user the option to review and modify the plan prior to theplan being finalized and made available for use by the remainingcircuits of the virtual coaching circuit 112.

The coach creation circuit 234 is configured to create a user-specificvirtual coach having a persona defined by any number of customizabletraits. In general, the coach creation circuit 234 is configured toallow the coach to be tailored and customized to increase therelatability of the virtual coach persona to the unique personality andneeds of a specific user, so as to increase the likelihood that the userwill react to and engage with the virtual coach, thereby improving thelikelihood that the user will implement the created plan and realizehis/her goal.

The persona of the virtual coach is defined by any number of traits,such as, e.g., personality, tone used by the coach, visual appearance,voice, etc. Examples of different virtual coach personality typesinclude, e.g., personalities that are: friendly, encouraging,demanding/tough, stringent, informative, energetic, harsh, based on thepersonality of an existing person, etc. Examples of different types oftones that communications from the virtual coach is defined by includetones that are, e.g., informative, direct, succinct, encouraging,critical, humorous, brash, serious, passive, use positive and/ornegative reinforcement, etc.

In some arrangements, the virtual coach takes the form of an avatarconfigured to be displayed to the user on the user computing device 120and/or variable display device 130. In such arrangements, the persona ofthe virtual coach additionally includes the visual appearance and/orvoice defining the avatar. The visual appearance of the avatar iscustomized to be, e.g., cartoon-like, realistic, based on a real orfictional person/character (e.g. the user, an age-progressed version ofthe user, a family member of the user, etc.). The voice of the avatar iscustomized to be, e.g., male/female, soft-spoken, authoritative,encouraging, inquisitive, angry, having an accent, etc.

The persona of the virtual coach is defined by the coach creationcircuit 234 according to any number of different options. According tosome arrangements, the customization of the coach persona is entirelybased on direct user input. For example, a prompt is transmitted andcapable of being displayed on the user computing device 120, or via agraphical user interface generated by a virtual coaching application 124accessible by the user computing device 120 by the coach creationcircuit 234 (either directly or via instructions provided to the userprofile circuit 231) via which the user inputs selections of varioustraits that are to define the persona of the virtual coach. Inarrangements in which the virtual coach is to be presented in the formof an avatar, the prompt provided to the user optionally provides theuser the ability to import an existing user-created avatar (e.g. from avideo game, etc.) on which the visual appearance, voice, and/or otherpersonality traits of the virtual coach are to be based.

According to some arrangements, the virtual coach persona is definedentirely by the coach creation circuit 234. For example, in somearrangements an optionally included adaptive circuit 236 is configuredto continuously aggregate data, which may over the course of time beable to identify a virtual coach persona defined by traits that isuniversally relatable to a wide range of users, irrespective of thebackground to the specific user, with the coach creation circuit 234configured to define the persona of the virtual coach based on theidentified universally relatable persona defined by the adaptive circuit236. In other arrangements, the coach creation circuit 234 is configuredto create a virtual coach persona defined by traits that are tailored tothe personality or other traits of the user and/or to the plan of theuser, with the coach creation circuit 234 being configured to analyzeinformation related to the plan of the use (including, e.g. theidentified goal(s), criticality of the goal, steps and timeline forachieving the goal) and/or existing user-specific information related topersonality/traits of the user (obtained by the coach creation circuit234 from the user profile circuit 231) in light of information from thevirtual coach database 232 to identify various coach persona traits thatare most suitable for the virtual coach.

Although obtaining direct user input as to the desired persona of thevirtual coach allows for efficient customization of the virtual coachpersona by the coach creation circuit 234, as discussed previously, auser may not always be able to identify, recognize and/or effectivelyexpress or relay information regarding various self-attributes; mayconfound certain features as being indicative of specific attributesand/or identify desired, idealized, or expected future attributesinstead identifying current, actual attributes; or may otherwise fail toaccurately respond to prompts related to his/her own attributes.Accordingly, in some arrangements, it is advantageous for the coachcreation circuit 234 to define a virtual coach persona based on combinedexplicit and implicit user information. In such arrangements, the coachcreation circuit 234 is configured to create an initial baseline virtualcoach persona based on features that the coach creation circuit 234 hasidentified as being relevant to the user (e.g., in a manner such as,e.g. described in the preceding paragraph), with the coach creationcircuit 234 being configured to allow the user to subsequently modifyand customize the baseline virtual coach persona. According to some sucharrangements, the manner in which the user is allowed to customize thebaseline virtual coach persona is similar to that described in relationto the fully-user customizable arrangement. In other such arrangements,the customization of the baseline virtual coach persona is additionally,or alternatively, is based on new, implicit user-specific informationobtained by the coach creation circuit 234 from the user profile circuit231. According to some arrangements, the source of such new, implicitlyuser-specific information is based on monitored user activity and/orbehavior from third-party system 140 and/or on direct user inputs to aprompt (e.g., a personality test) generated and provided to the user viathe user computing device 120 by the user profile circuit 231. Upon thereceipt of this new, implicit information, the logic of the coachcreation circuit 234 is configured to analyze the obtained informationin light of information from the virtual coach database 232 to infer oneor more virtual coach persona traits that are relevant to the user.

The coaching implementation circuit 235 is configured to define themanner in which the virtual coach persona defined by the coach creationcircuit 234 is to interact with/assist the user in implementing the plancreated by the plan creation circuit 233. In particular, among otherfeatures, the coaching implementation circuit 235 is configured todetermine the mode of delivery and timing of communications provided bythe virtual coach; the degree of coaching provided by the coach; thecontent of the coaching provided by the virtual coach, etc. as bestsuited to and most effective in assisting the user.

As discussed previously, the user computing device 120 and the variabledisplay device 130, which are used by the computing system to receiveand present virtual coaching communications to the user includes anynumber of different devices which define any number of different typesof channels by which any number of different types of communications(e.g. text messages, in-app text and/or messages/notifications, email,social network posts, phone calls, haptic feedback, etc.) are providedto the user. According to various arrangements, the coachingimplementation circuit 235 is configured to utilize any number offeedback methods or systems to determine the types of channels and thetypes of communications via which virtual coaching communications are tobe provided to the user, with the selection of the types of channelsand/or types of communication by the coaching implementation circuit 235being based on, e.g. monitored frequency and degree of usage of suchchannels and/or such communications and/or user responsiveness to suchcommunications.

For example, according to various arrangements, the coachingimplementation circuit 235 and/or the adaptive circuit 236 may monitorand store this data in the virtual coach database 232 along withmonitored and observed user behaviors responsive to the use of suchchannels and modes of communication. Over time, the coachingimplementation circuit 235 may use this saved historical data related touser usage of various channels and modes of communication and correlateduser behavior and activity to identify, based on a desired effect of aparticular coaching communication, a channel or mode of communicationmost likely to result effectuate the desired outcome.

By adjusting the types of channels used by the virtual coach and/or thetypes of communications that are transmitted to the user by the virtualcoach based on the channels most commonly used by the user and/or thetypes of communications the user is most likely to respond and react to,the coaching implementation circuit 235 is configured to increaseability of relevant virtual coaching to reach the user, therebyincreasing the effectiveness of the virtual coaching provided by thevirtual coaching system 100.

The coaching implementation circuit 235 is configured to deliver virtualcoaching communications to the user on a fixed, variable, and/or on anas needed schedule. According to various arrangements, the timing ofdelivery of communications determined by the coaching implementationcircuit 235 is based on, e.g., a desired time interval betweencommunications; a desired specific frequency of communications, detectedand known periods of usage of the user computing device 120 and/orvariable display device 130 by the user; avoiding delivery of messagesduring times of user unavailability (e.g. when the user has beendetected as being at a movie theatre, etc.); specific time and/or dates(such as, e.g. upcoming due dates), a user-defined schedule (e.g. auser's lunch-break, etc.); a measured period of user inactivity, asensed or monitored condition (e.g. access by the user to a particularwebsite; the presence of the user at a specific location; etc.); etc. Byadapting the timing of communications provided by the virtual coachbased on when a particular communication is most relevant to a user,when a communication will most likely be considered by the user, and/orspecific habits and preferences of the user, the coaching implementationcircuit 235 is configured to increase the likelihood of the impact ofthe communication on the user, thereby increasing the effectiveness ofthe virtual coaching provided by the virtual coaching system 100.

The communications that are transmitted to user computing device 120and/or variable display device 130 by the virtual coach are configuredby the coaching implementation circuit 235 to contain content of anydesired nature (e.g. text, audio, haptics, video, photos, etc.) intendedfor any number of different purposes. For example, the content selectedby the coaching implementation circuit 235 includes content intended to,e.g. provide a user with an update of his/her progress towards a goal(e.g. graphs, charts, etc.); educate the user about a specific topic(e.g. written material and/or information video, etc.); remind the userof the user's plan and goals (e.g. an audio or haptic alert); provideencouragement to the user; motivate the user (e.g. a picture related toa goal of the user); remind the user of upcoming due dates; provide alink to a third-party system 140 application, system, network, etc. thatis of use to the user (e.g. a link to a meal-planning mobile applicationin response to detected frequency and recurring fast-food charges); etc.According to various arrangements, the content transmitted to the userincludes content obtained from any number of different sources,including, e.g. the virtual coach database 232, the system database 114,the user computing device 120, the variable display device 130, thethird-party system 140, etc.

In addition to varying the content of the communications transmitted bythe virtual coach, according to various arrangements, the coachingimplementation circuit 235 is also configured to modify the degree withwhich the user is intended to engage with the content that istransmitted to the user. For example, some content (e.g. photos ormessages sent to encourage the user) is configured to elicit no responsefrom the user; some content (e.g. a message containing a visualdepiction of the progress of the user) is not inherently intended toelicit a user response, but includes a link to document capable of beingdisplayed on the user computing device 120; a graphical user interfacegenerated by the virtual coaching application 124; and/or a website, viawhich the user uses to transmit to the virtual coaching circuit 112 anyquestions or concerns regarding the received communication the user has;while other content is configured to engage the user in a conversation(e.g. a display of the virtual coach avatar on the user computing device120 with the displayed avatar inquiring how the user is doing and if theuser has any suggestions or feedback related to the virtual coachingsystem 100).

According to various arrangements, the coaching implementation circuit235 is configured to provide varying degrees and types of assistance tothe user. By adapting the virtual coach to provide varying degrees andtypes of assistance to a user, the coaching implementation circuit 235allows the virtual coaching system 100 to adapt to varying levels ofcoaching assistance that is desired by different users and/or varyinglevels of coaching assistance with which different user is comfortable.In some arrangements, the coaching implementation circuit 235 isconfigured to implement passive virtual coaching such as, e.g.,reminding the user of to-do items and due dates related to a goal;providing the user with generic motivational communications; providingassistance in response to a user request for help, such as, e.g.providing information about specific questions, (e.g. what type of loanto apply for) or providing general, higher level information (such as,e.g. saving for retirement); providing the user information aboutchanging trends related to the goal(s) of the user; etc.

In other arrangements, the coaching implementation circuit 235 isconfigured to adapt the virtual coach to provide a user with activeassistance such as, e.g. providing real-time updates of the progress ofthe user towards his/her goal; transmitting personalized motivationalcommunications; initiating a phone call to the user from a human advisorif the coaching implementation circuit 235 detects that the user ishaving trouble implementing his/her plan; providing suggestions,recommendations or tips to help the user based on the monitored userbehavior (e.g., providing information regarding car purchasing andfinancing options in response to detecting an increase in frequency andamounts of charges related to car maintenance); putting financialdecisions into context for a user in arrangements in which the goal is afinancial goal (e.g. displaying via the user computing device 120 and/orvariable display device 130 yearly costs spent on coffee purchases andthe impact putting money spent on coffee towards savings would have onachieving a financial goal of the user in response to the coachingimplementation circuit 235 receiving geolocation information from theuser computing device 120 and/or third-party system 140 over theprovider network interface 111 indicating that the user is at a coffeeshop); proposing changes to the plan based on changes in the market inarrangements in which the user goal is a financial goal (e.g.recommending expediting the purchase of a home in response toinformation that interest rates will likely be increasing in the nearfuture); providing a comparison of the situation and progress towardsgoals of the user in relationship to that of other users; etc.

According to yet other arrangements, the coaching implementation circuit235 also is configured to adapt the virtual coach to provide proactiveassistance to a user upon obtaining approval of the user to do, with thevirtual coach in such arrangements being configured to independentlytake active measures towards helping the user implement his/her plan.For example, the coaching implementation circuit 235 is configured totransmit to the user computing device 120 and/or a third-party system140 over the network 150 with instructions to block access by the userto the site of on online retailer that the user has indicated is asource of non-essential, impulse purchases that the user would like toavoid; to increase user accountability by, e.g. transmitting a messageto a computing device or variable display device 130 of anotherindividual pre-selected by the user (e.g. spouse/significant other,parent, etc.) in response to the user failing to implement the plan ofthe user; etc.

As will be understood, in arrangements in which the virtual coach isintended to provide active or proactive assistance to the user, thecoaching implementation circuit 235 is configured to (or be configuredto instruct the user profile circuit 231 to) monitor information relatedto current or on-going user activity from the user computing device 120,third-party system 140, an additional circuit 116 of the providercomputing system 110, such that the coaching implementation circuit 235customizes and tailors the virtual coaching provided to the user as muchas possible by, e.g.: delivering communications via the most appropriatechannels (e.g. determining, or doing a search to determine, by thecoaching implementation circuit 235: communication channels mostfrequently used by the user; patterns related to the use and/orselection of communication channels by the user; whether the user iscurrently actively utilizing a particular channel prior to send acommunication to that channel and adjusting the selected channel fordelivery of the communication accordingly); delivering thecommunications at times at which the user is most likely to be receptiveof the communication; adjusting the scope of the communications (e.g.sending communications with limited scope and/or communications notrequiring a user response during working hours of the user); adaptingthe content of the coaching provided by the virtual coach (e.g.initiating a phone call with a human financial advisor of a financialinstitution in response to receiving data from the user computing device120 that the user has accessed his/her retirement savings account anddata from a smartwatch device of the user indicative of an elevatedheart rate of the user in embodiments in which the virtual coach isconfigured to assist the user with achieving a financial goal at theprovider is a financial institution); etc.

The manner in which the coaching implementation circuit 235 isconfigured to interact with/assist the user is varied according tovarious arrangements. For example, according to some arrangements, thecoaching implementation circuit 235 is configured to instruct the userprofile circuit 231 to obtain explicitly provided user informationrelated to the identification of desired settings by which the virtualcoach is to interact with/assist the user. In such arrangements in whichthe explicit user-specific information requested is also requested to bebased at least in part on new information, the user profile circuit 231is configured to transmit over the network 150, via the provider networkinterface 111 and to the user computing device 120 a prompt in the formof, e.g., a PDF or HTML document capable of being displayed on the usercomputing device 120, a graphical user interface generated by a virtualcoaching application 124 available on the user computing device 120,etc. with the prompt containing one or more requested user-input fieldsvia which the user inputs information explicitly relevant theidentification of user preference related to virtual coachinteractions/assistance. According to various arrangements, the contentof these user-input fields is based on parameters defined by the userprofile circuit 231 at least partially in response to information storedin the virtual coach database 232.

According to some arrangements, the coaching implementation circuit 235is configured to supplement (or entirely substitute) user preferencesidentified via explicit user input, with user preferences identifiedbased on implicit user-specific information obtained by user profilecircuit 231 based on one or both of existing or new information. Such anoption is advantageous as it may, e.g., minimize the degree of directuser input or engagement required by the virtual coaching system 100 toprovide virtual coaching to the user; be able to identify userpreferences that the user was not able to identify him/herself; etc.

In particular, a user may not always be able to identify, recognizeand/or effectively express or relay information regarding variousself-attributes; may confound certain features as being indicative ofspecific attributes and/or identify desired, idealized, or expectedfuture attributes instead identifying current, actual attributes; or mayotherwise fail to accurately respond to prompts related to his/her ownattributes. Accordingly, in some arrangements, in addition to (or as analternative to) instructing the user profile circuit 231 to create aprompt to obtain new, explicitly provided information from the user, theuser profile circuit 231 is instructed to obtain existing or newimplicit information relevant to the identification of user preferencesrelated to virtual coach interactions/assistance. For example, in somearrangements, the prompt created and transmitted by the user profilecircuit 231 to the user also (or alternatively) contains one or morerequested user-input fields via which the user inputs informationimplicitly relevant to the identification of virtual coachinteraction/assistance settings. As will be understood, if theidentification of user coach interaction/assistance preferences is basedin part or entirely on implicit user information, the identification ofone or more user preferences by the coaching implementation circuit 235includes the additional steps of utilizing the logic of the plancreation circuit 233 to extract data indicative of one or more userinteraction/assistance preferences based on the analysis of the implicituser information in light of information obtained from the virtual coachdatabase 232.

As will be explained in more detail below, according to variousarrangements, as the user and other individuals are coached via thevirtual coaching system, and as data related to the virtual coachingprovided by the virtual coaching system 100 to the user and otherindividuals is aggregated and processed, the adaptive circuit 236 of thevirtual coaching circuit 112 is configured to analyze the data todetermine patterns related to, among other things, particularuser-specific virtual coach traits and features that correlate withsuccessful implementation of plans and achievement of goals by users ofthe virtual coaching system 100. As sufficient data is analyzed and suchspecific features and/or traits are identified by the adaptive circuit236, according to some arrangements, the virtual coaching system 100 isconfigured such that certain traits and/or features of the virtual coachrelated to the manner in which the virtual coach interacts with/assiststhe user is preselected by the coaching implementation circuit 235 basedon this information.

In arrangements in which the selections of virtual coach featuresrelated to the manner which the virtual coach interacts with/assists theuser during the virtual coaching provided by the virtual coaching system100 is not entirely based on direct user input, according to variousarrangements, the selection of these features by the coachingimplementation circuit 235 is based on one or both of the plan of theuser (with the selection further being based on number or and anycombination of the: goal(s), the steps involved in achieving thegoal(s), the criticality of the goal(s), the timeframe for completingthe goal(s), etc. defining the plan of the user) and the personality,habits, and other traits of the user. In such arrangements, the coachingimplementation circuit 235 contains logic via which the coachingimplementation circuit 235 is configured to determine the extent andinfluence that different parts of the plan and/or user traits have inthe selection of features related to the manner which the virtual coachinteracts with/assists the user during the virtual coaching. Once thisdetermination is made, the coaching implementation circuit 235 instructsthe user profile circuit 231 to obtain relevant user-specificinformation, following which those portion of the obtained relevantuser-specific information and the plan of the user that the coachingimplementation circuit 235 has decided to base the selection of featureson are analyzed and processed in view of information from the virtualcoach database 232 to extract data on which the coaching implementationcircuit 235 defines the features by which the virtual coach is tointeract with and assist the user.

In other arrangements in which features of the virtual coach defined bythe coaching implementation circuit 235 are based on one or both of theplan of the user and the traits of the user, the coaching implementationcircuit 235 is configured to instruct the user profile circuit 231 toobtain relevant user-specific information, following which all of theobtained user-specific information relevant to the selection of featuresrelated to the manner in which the virtual coach interacts with/assiststhe user and all of the plan information are processed and analyzed inlight of the information from the virtual coach database 232, with thefeatures that are to define the manner in which the virtual coachinteracts with/assists the user (including the degree to which the planinformation and the user-specific information are used to determinethese selected features) being determined based on the data obtainedbased on this analysis.

As will be understood, the plan created by the plan creation circuit233, the persona of the virtual coach created by coach creation circuit234, and/or the manner in which the virtual coach is configured toassist/interact with the user as selected by the coaching implementationcircuit 235 (‘the features’) is adjusted as desired over the course ofuse of the virtual coaching system 100 by the user. In somearrangements, the features initially selected during set-up of thevirtual coaching system 100 remains static over the course of virtualcoaching provided by the virtual coaching circuit 112. In otherarrangements, the features initially selected during set-up of thevirtual coaching system 100 are semi-static, with different featuresbeing assigned to apply to various aspects of the virtual coach/coachingunder specific different circumstances, but with the initially selectedfeatures and the rules by which the initially selected features areapplied remaining static and unchanged over the course of coachingprovided by the virtual coaching circuit 112.

In yet other arrangements, the plan created by the plan creation circuit233, the persona of the virtual coach created by coach creation circuit234, and/or the manner in which the virtual coach is configured toassist/interact with the user as selected by the coaching implementationcircuit 235 is entirely adaptive, with: different features beingassigned to apply to various aspects of the virtual coach/coaching underspecific different circumstances and the initially selected features andrules by which the initially selected feature are applied being capableof being varied over the course of virtual coaching provided by thevirtual coaching circuit 112. In such arrangements, the plan created bythe plan creation circuit 233, the persona of the virtual coach createdby coach creation circuit 234, and/or the manner in which the virtualcoach is configured to assist/interact with the user as selected by thecoaching implementation circuit 235 each are capable of being updatedand refined over the course of use of the virtual coaching system 100,so as to be able to refine the initially selected features based on newdata (e.g. from the adaptive circuit 236, based on ongoing monitoreduser behavior/activity, etc.).

As previously noted, according to various arrangements, the virtualcoaching circuit 112 optionally includes an adaptive circuit 236. As theuser and/or other individuals utilize the virtual coaching system 100,the adaptive circuit 236 is configured to monitor and analyze datarelated to the use of the virtual coaching system 100 to determinepatterns and correlations between: the created plan, the profile of theuser, the persona of the virtual coach and/or the manner in which thevirtual coach is configured to assist/interact with the user and theeffectiveness of the virtual coaching provided by the virtual coach asmeasured, e.g. by quantitatively defined progress toward the goal,user-reported progress towards the goal, user responsiveness to thevirtual coach (including user responsiveness to, e.g. different modes,frequency, and timing of communications, different types of content,different actions taken by the virtual coach, the persona of the coach,etc.); etc.

In response to any correlations, inferences, patterns, etc. beingdetected by the adaptive circuit 236, the data, logic, correlations orother content of the virtual coach database 232 is updated accordingly.According to some arrangements, the adaptive circuit 236 is alsooptionally configured to update the virtual coach database 232 based onaggregated data from other sources, such as, e.g. system database 114,third-party system 140, etc. or other sources of information relevant tothe operation of the virtual coaching system 100. By updating thevirtual coach database 232 with such additional, updated informationthat correlates, e.g. specific: monitored user behavior or activities,user traits, particular goals, plan timelines, assessed criticalities ofgoals; etc. with virtual coach traits and features (including, e.g.persona of the coach; mode, frequency, and timing of communicationstransmitted by the virtual coach, degree of and types of virtual coachinteractions with a user, content of virtual coach communication) theeffectiveness of the ability of the virtual coaching system 100 toprovide user specific virtual coaching in the future is enhanced.

As referenced previously, according to some arrangements, whensufficient data has been collected, analyzed and correlated to specificplan and/or virtual coach features by the adaptive circuit 236, any orall of the plan creation circuit 233, the coach creation circuit 234,and/or the coaching implementation circuit 235 may each be configured toautomatically operate based on default settings based on the dataobtained by the adaptive circuit 236, allowing the user to receivecustomized virtual coaching without requiring a user to spend time oreffort in setting up, customizing, or providing information that wouldotherwise be required to provide the user with a user-specific virtualcoaching. In some such arrangements, the default settings of the plancreation circuit 233, the coach creation circuit 234, and/or thecoaching implementation circuit 235 is based on data from the adaptivecircuit 236 generated in response to the analysis by the adaptivecircuit 236 of data aggregated from: the use of the virtual coachingsystem 100 by all users or, usage of the virtual coaching system 100 bythe specific user; or the use of the virtual coaching system 100 byusers of similar backgrounds (e.g. age, geographical location, maritalstatus, income level, net worth, etc.).

Referring to FIG. 3, a method for providing user-specific virtualcoaching is illustrated according to one arrangement. The methodillustrated in FIG. 3 is performed by virtual coaching system 100 or anyother system. In some arrangements, the method of FIG. 3 is performed atleast partially offline.

At step 300, a request for virtual coaching is received by the virtualcoaching system 100. According to various arrangements, the virtualcoaching system 100 is provided and utilized as a standalone system,with the method for providing user-specific virtual coaching beingprovided and initiated in response to an independently received requestreceived directly from a user, such as e.g. in response to a userdownloading and installing the virtual coaching application 124 on amobile device of the user. In other arrangements, an option to downloadthe virtual coaching application 124 and/or otherwise access the virtualcoaching system 100 is presented to a user in response to the user by auser of a secondary application, program or system, such as, e.g. amobile banking application provided as an additional circuit 116 of theprovider computing system 110, with user-specific virtual coaching beingprovided and initiated in response to the user accepting the option toaccess the virtual coaching system 100 presented by the secondaryapplication, program or system. In yet other arrangements, the virtualcoaching system 100 is provided as a part of a secondary application,program or system offered by an additional circuit 116 of the providercomputing system 110 and/or a third-party system 140 (e.g. as part of anoverall-life coaching application), with the user-specific virtualcoaching being provided and initiated in response to the user of thesecondary application, program or system by the user.

In response to receiving a request to provide virtual coaching to auser, at step 302, a plan is created for the user. The plan that iscreated is adapted to assist the user in achieving any number of and anycombination of different types of goals, including financial goals thatrange from well-defined goals (e.g. purchasing a car); open-ended goals(e.g. spending less money on dining out); goals having specificassociated end-dates (e.g. saving for a wedding); goals without aspecific timeframe (e.g. creating an emergency fund); goals of differingcriticalities (e.g. saving for retirement vs. creating a vacation fund);etc. In initiating the creation of the plan, the plan creation circuit233 is configured to determine one of more goals of a user. After one ormore of the goals of the user have been identified, the plan creationcircuit 233 is configured to utilize the identified goa, as well asadditional information, such as, e.g. the criticality of the goal(s) tothe user, the difficulty of achieving the goal (based on, e.g. currentcustomer spending, saving and investing habits, etc. in arrangements inwhich the goal is a financial goal), and time sensitivity to create aplan for the user. According to various arrangements, the additionalinformation related to the goals of the user is input by the user via avirtual coaching application 124 stored by the user computing device120, which is transmitted to the plan creation circuit 233 over thenetwork 150.

At step 304, a baseline virtual coach having a persona and/or featuredefining how the virtual coach is to interact with and/or assist theuser is defined by the coach creation circuit 234 and/or coachingimplementation circuit 235. In particular, one or both of the coachcreation circuit 234 and/or coaching implementation circuit 235optionally instructs the user profile circuit 231 to obtainuser-specific information related to the personality of the user and/orvirtual coach interaction/assistance preferences of the user. Inresponse to receiving requests from the coach creation circuit 234and/or coaching implementation circuit 235, the user profile circuit 231obtains parameters from the virtual coach database 232 by which the userprofile circuit 231 filters available user-specific information toobtain subset(s) of information related to the personality of the userand/or virtual coach interaction/assistance preferences of the user andwhich can be provided to the requesting coach creation circuit 234and/or coaching implementation circuit 235. Upon receipt of therequested information, the logic of the coach creation circuit 234and/or the logic of the coaching implementation circuit 235 analyzes thereceived personality of the user and/or virtual coachinteraction/assistance preferences of the user against information fromthe virtual coach database 232 to identify various virtual coach personatraits and/or virtual coaching features by which the virtual coach is tointeract with/assist the user. Based on this information identified bythe coach creation circuit 234 and/or the coaching implementationcircuit 235, a baseline virtual coach model can be created.

According to various arrangements, at step 304, the user-specificinformation search by the user profile circuit 231 is defined byexisting information, with the parameters identified by the user profilecircuit 231 being configured to, among the types of information, obtaininformation related to, e.g. the digital interaction footprint of theuser (related to user interactions with others), traits of the useridentified from prior questions/conversation, passive chat session, thesyntax of user communications (e.g. whether full sentences of used, orif slang or text language is used), types of words used by the user(e.g. emotion, analytical), social network data, geolocation data.

At step 306, the coach creation circuit 234 and/or the coachingimplementation circuit 235 presents to the user (via, e.g. a graphicaluser interface displayed by virtual coaching application 124 accessed bythe user computing device 120) the virtual coach persona traits and/orvirtual coaching features by which the virtual coach is to interactwith/assist the user of the baseline virtual coach model is defined foruser review. According to various arrangements, in addition to providingthe features of the baseline virtual coach model for approval, the coachcreation circuit 234 and/or the coaching implementation circuit 235 alsoallows the user to modify virtual coach persona traits and/or virtualcoaching features by which the virtual coach is to interact with/assistthe user. For example, among the selections that is presented to theuser for customization are: the tone of the coach (including, e.g.whether the coach is to utilize positive and/or negative reinforcement);the type of langue used by the coach, the channel used by the coach forinteracting with the user (e.g. SMS/text message, voice calls, email,social media, digital assistant, etc.); the frequency of virtual coachcommunications; the amount of feedback to be provided by the virtualcoach; content-related preferences (e.g. whether the user preferscommunications containing words, picture, graphs, video, audio, etc.).Upon receipt by the coach creation circuit 234 and/or the coachingimplementation circuit 235 of user selections (obtained, e.g. via thegraphical user interface), baseline virtual coach model is updated asneeded to create a finalized user-specific virtual coach.

Referring to FIGS. 4A-4C, screenshots of representative graphical userinterfaces 401, 402, 403 used in the baseline coach and/or financialplan customization process are shown according to one arrangement. Asillustrated by FIGS. 4A-4C, according to some arrangements, the optionto review and customize the baseline coach and/or financial plan createdby the virtual coaching system 100 is provided via one or more graphicaluser interfaces displayed in the user computing device 120. As shown bythe embodiment depicted in FIG. 4A, according to various arrangements,an initial customization graphical user interface displays the baselinevirtual coach avatar and provides the user with one or more selectableoptions via which the user can review and/or modify the virtual coachand/or created financial plan. Although in the arrangement representedin FIG. 4A the virtual coach is displayed as a static image withcommunications directed to user being presented via text displayed inthe user interface, according to other arrangements, the virtual coachis animated on the display, with the text-based communication displayedin FIG. 4A (or any other desired communication targeted to the user)being optionally being communicated to the user in the form of theavatar speaking to the user.

According to various arrangements, (such as, e.g. when the virtualcoaching system 100 detects that the display window of the usercomputing device 120 in which the graphical user interface will bedisplayed is of a sufficient size) the ability to review, select, orotherwise customize different traits or features of the virtual coachand/or financial plan is provided by one or more objects (e.g. radialbuttons, check boxes, icons, sliding scales, etc.) that are displayed onand selectable from the initial graphical user interface displayed inthe user computing device 120. However, as illustrated by theembodiments shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, according to other arrangements(such as, e.g. when the virtual coaching system 100 detects that theuser computing device 120 being used by the user to customize and reviewthe baseline virtual coach and financial plan comprises a device with asmall screen size, such as, e.g. a smartphone, that would make itdifficult to display the desired amount of selectable features to theuser) one or more selectable options are provided on the initialcustomization screen, with the selection by the user of an option beingconfigured to generate new graphical user interface. For example, inresponse to a user selecting the “Find out about Sam” option in thegraphical user interface of FIG. 4A, the virtual coaching circuit 12 isconfigured to generate a second graphical user interface such asillustrated, e.g., in FIG. 4B. Alternatively, by selecting the “Find outabout Sam's Plan” option displayed in the graphical user interface ofFIG. 4A, the virtual coaching circuit 112 is configured to generate athird graphical user interface such as illustrated, e.g., in FIG. 4C. Aswill be understood, each of the generated graphical user interfaces maythemselves also include selectable options, which in turn also generateand result in graphical user interfaces being displayed by the usercomputing device 120.

At step 308, a coaching plan is optionally provided to the user by thevirtual coaching circuit 112, with the coaching plan being based on andsummarizing to the user the created plan, created virtual coach persona,and selected features defining the manner in which the virtual coach isto interact with and assist the user. The coaching plan optionallyprovides the user with the opportunity to update and edit any and all ofthe created plan, created virtual coach persona, and selected featuresdefining the manner in which the virtual coach is to interact with andassist the user as needed.

Although the coach creation circuit 234 and the coaching implementationcircuit 235 have been referred to as distinct circuits functioningindependently of one another, it is to be understood that according tosome arrangements, the coach creation circuit 234 and the coachingimplementation circuit 235 comprises a single circuit, with theselection of virtual coach persona traits and virtual coaching featuresby which the virtual coach is to interact with/assist the user beingidentified simultaneously by the combined circuit.

At step 310, the virtual coaching system 100 is used to provide virtualcoaching to the user according to the coaching plan by: providingcommunications in a manner defined by the features selected by thecoaching implementation circuit 235 using a coach personality as definedby the coach creation circuit 234 to assist the user in following theplan created by the plan creation circuit 233. For example, illustratedin FIG. 5 is one arrangement of a virtual coach communication created byand transmitted to a graphical user interface displayed by the mobilevirtual coaching application 124 in the user computing device 120 inresponse the coaching implementation circuit 235 receiving informationfrom the system database 114 of the provider computing system 110 thatthe user has incurred unexpected significant charges in a financialaccount of the user, with the avatar and the tone of the communicationcreated by the coaching implementation circuit 235 being based on avirtual coach persona created by the coach creation circuit 234.

According to various arrangements, at step 312, during the course of thevirtual coaching provided to the user, any or all of the plan creationcircuit 233, the coach creation circuit 234 and the coachingimplementation circuit 235 is configured to monitor (or instruct theuser profile circuit 231 to monitor) ongoing user activity and behaviorbased on user usage of user computing device 120, third-party system140, and/or additional circuits 116 of the provider computing system110.

According to various arrangements, at step 314, the adaptive circuit 236reviews and analyzes the monitored data obtained during step 312 todetermine the effectiveness of the virtual coaching provided by thevirtual coaching system 100. Based on this analysis, the adaptivecircuit 236 may modify the virtual coaching system 100 to better tailorthe virtual coach to the user, with any such updates being stored in thevirtual coach database 232 so as to be available for future use by thevirtual coaching system 100. As will be understood, steps 312 and 314may be repeated any number of times and with any desired frequency overthe course of providing virtual coaching to the user (e.g., in responseto each coaching action provided by the virtual coach and/or eachinteraction of the coach with a user, etc.).

According to some arrangements, the virtual coach database 232 may storecorrelations between different types of coaching that may be provided bythe virtual coach and one or more expected user behaviors or activitiesthat are to be monitored to assess the effectiveness of each type ofcoaching. By monitoring these expected user behaviors and activities,the adaptive circuit 236 may be able to fine-tune and improve thecoaching provided by the virtual coach to increase the likelihood thatthe various coaching undertaken by the virtual coaching system 100 willelicit the desired behavior/actions/changes/etc. in a user.

For example, as discussed previously, in one arrangement the virtualcoach transmits to a user having a goal of saving money a messageencouraging the user to reconsider a coffee purchase in response todetermining the geolocation of the user to be in the vicinity of acoffeeshop. For this particular type of coaching, the virtual coachdatabase 232 may indicate that the expected user behaviors andactivities that should be monitored are the geolocation of the userand/or transactions that are posted in the financial accounts of theuser within a predetermined time period subsequent to the transmissionof the coaching message to the user. Based on this information from thevirtual coach database 232, the user profile circuit 231 may monitorsubsequent user geolocation data and/or user financial statements todetermine whether the message was effective in preventing the user frompurchasing coffee (as would, e.g., be indicated by a lack of a postedcoffeeshop transaction and/or a failure to detect the geolocation of theuser within the vicinity of the coffeeshop within a predetermined timeperiod).

As another example, in some arrangements the coaching provided by thevirtual coach may comprise a communication transmitted to the usercomputing device 120 and/or variable display device 130 encouraging theuser to set aside a certain amount of money from each paycheck towards asavings account. In such arrangements, the correlation stored in thevirtual coach database 232 may indicate that the user behavior and/oractivity to be monitored for such a coaching activity may comprisingmonitoring the financial accounts of the user to determine whether moneyhas been deposited into a savings account.

In response to detecting (or not detecting as may be the case) the oneor more expected user behaviors or activities associated with aparticular type of coaching, the adaptive circuit 236 may, over time,update the virtual coach database 232 to indicate the particular type ofcoaching as being effective in encouraging/preventing a targeted userbehavior, with the coach implementation circuit 235 being configured tocoach the user in a similar manner should a similar situation arise inthe future. For example, in the hypothetical presented above, inresponse to determining that the user did not enter the coffeeshopand/or that no transaction from the coffeeshop was posted to a financialaccount of the user, the adaptive circuit 236 may update the virtualcoach database 232 to indicate the type of message that was sent to theuser as an effective coaching action.

According to some arrangements, in response to determining that aparticular type of coaching failed to meet a minimum threshold ofeffectiveness and/or that the coaching was detrimental to achieving adesired user behavior, the adaptive circuit 236 updates the virtualcoach database 232 to indicate such coaching as ineffective so that thatparticular type of coaching is not used again by the virtual coachingsystem 100. However, in other situations, the adaptive circuit 236 maydetermine that-despite not meeting a desired threshold effectiveness,the coaching demonstrated some degree of effectiveness in coaching auser. In such scenarios, the adaptive circuit 236 may determine thatinstead of entirely dismissing the coaching type as ineffective, certainmodifications to one or more of the characteristics defining thecoaching (e.g., the tone of the message, the content of the message, theuser computing device(s) 120 and/or variable display device(s) 130 towhich the coaching was provided, the timing of the coaching, etc.) maybe sufficient to increase the effectiveness of the coaching to make theparticular coaching action a viable coaching action for future uses ofthe virtual coaching system 100.

As will be understood, the assessment of how certain characteristicsdefining a coaching action should be modified may be more objective forcertain characteristics than for others. For example, in modifying whichuser computing device(s) 120 to transmit coaching communications to, theadaptive circuit 236 may rely on objective data related to the monitoredusage of various user computing device(s) 120. Similarly, in modifyingthe timing of user communications, the adaptive circuit 236 may alsorely on objective data related to various monitored user behaviorsand/or activities. Accordingly, despite involving a significant, changeto the characteristic of the coaching action, such a modification maynonetheless be desirable to test in an attempt to increase theeffectiveness of the coaching provided by the virtual coaching system100.

In contrast, for characteristics that cannot easily be objectivelymonitored, such as, e.g., the effect of the tone and/or content of thecoaching action on user behavior, according to various arrangements itmay be undesirable to make significant, binary modifications to suchcoaching action characteristics, as such drastic changes to thesecharacteristics may serve to worsen, rather than improve theeffectiveness of the coaching. For example if, in the above presentedhypothetical, the tone of the coaching message to set money aside fromeach paycheck were suddenly changed from an encouraging tone to a strictone, a user not expecting such a change may react by altogether ignoringthe coaching message. Accordingly, in such arrangements in which thetone and/or content of the message of the coaching is to be modified, itmay be advantageous to initially attempt to increase the effectivenessof the coaching message by making adjustments to the level of the toneand/or content of the coaching message (e.g. adding a degree ofstrictness to the tone of the coaching message while retaining at leastsome of the encouraging tone of the message) rather than making analtogether binary change in the tone and/or content of the coachingmessage.

As described above, according to various arrangements the adaptivecircuit 236 provides a feedback system that operates in an iterativemanner to continuously refine the operation of the virtual coachingsystem so as to determine the most effective combination to variousvirtual coach characteristics (e.g., the tone of the message, thecontent of the message, the user computing device(s) 120 and/or variabledisplay device(s) 130 to which coaching is provided, the timing of thecoaching, etc.) with which to coach a user. As part of this process,with each use of the virtual coach to provide coaching to the user, thespecifics of each coaching activity may be recorded in the virtual coachdatabase 232 for future reference. For example, recorded for eachcoaching event may be information such as: the overall user goal and/orfinancial plan; the characteristics of the particular coaching message;the purpose of the coaching message (e.g. whether the coaching eventwas: a prescheduled check-in; intended to remind the user of a specificevent/task to be completed; sent in response to a monitored user event(e.g. congratulate the user for reaching a goal, check-in with the userregarding unusual activity, etc.); etc.

Subsequent to a coaching event, one or more user behaviors or activitiesmay be monitored by the adaptive circuit 236 to assess the effectivenessof the coaching activity. As noted above, according to variousarrangements, stored by the virtual coach database 232 may be previouslyprovided correlations (either from prior uses of the virtual coachingsystem and/or from other sources) that relate a specific type ofcoaching message and/or one or more coaching message characteristics toexpected user behaviors or activities. These correlations allow theadaptive circuit 236 to determine whether the particular coaching eventelicited the intended response in a user. According to somearrangements, as additional user behaviors and activities are monitoredand compared against particular coaching messages, the adaptive circuit236 may continue to update the correlations stored by the virtual coachdatabase 232, allowing the virtual coach system to better assess theeffectiveness of the coaching provided to the user.

As the adaptive circuit 236 updates the virtual coach database 232 withinformation regarding coaching events and subsequent monitored userbehavior and activity, the adaptive circuit 236 may apply any number ofdifferent analytics to the aggregated data to extract and refine variouscorrelations between virtual coaching characteristics and resulting userbehavior. Based on this data stored in the virtual coach database 232,over time, the coach implementation circuit 235 may be able to providemore precise and refined coaching by being able to define coachingcommunications using a specific mix of characteristics that have beendetermined by the adaptive circuit 236 as being most likely to elicit aspecific intended user behavior or response.

At step 316, the virtual coaching system 100 receives a new request forvirtual coaching (either from the user or another individual). With theadditional data obtained during step 312 stored in the virtual coachdatabase 232 (as well as any additional updates that have been made tothe virtual coach database 232, such as, e.g. information added based onthe use of the adaptive circuit 236 at step 314), the virtual coachingsystem 100 is configured to provide increasingly refined and specificinformation that is used to provided increasingly tailored virtualcoaching requiring decreasing amounts of direct user input.

The arrangements described herein have been described with reference todrawings. The drawings illustrate certain details of specificarrangements that implement the systems, methods, and programs describedherein. However, describing the arrangements with drawings should not beconstrued as imposing on the disclosure any limitations that may bepresent in the drawings.

It should be understood that no claim element herein is to be construedunder the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), unless the element isexpressly recited using the phrase “means for.”

As used herein, the term “circuit” may include hardware structured toexecute the functions described herein. In some arrangements, eachrespective “circuit” may include machine-readable media for configuringthe hardware to execute the functions described herein. The circuit maybe embodied as one or more circuitry components including, but notlimited to, processing circuitry, network interfaces, peripheraldevices, input devices, output devices, sensors, etc. In somearrangements, a circuit may take the form of one or more analogcircuits, electronic circuits (e.g., integrated circuits (IC), discretecircuits, system on a chip (SOCs) circuits, etc.), telecommunicationcircuits, hybrid circuits, and any other type of “circuit.” In thisregard, the “circuit” may include any type of component foraccomplishing or facilitating achievement of the operations describedherein. For example, a circuit as described herein may include one ormore transistors, logic gates (e.g., NAND, AND, NOR, OR, XOR, NOT, XNOR,etc.), resistors, multiplexers, registers, capacitors, inductors,diodes, wiring, and so on).

The “circuit” may also include one or more processors communicativelycoupled to one or more memory or memory devices. In this regard, the oneor more processors may execute instructions stored in the memory or mayexecute instructions otherwise accessible to the one or more processors.In some arrangements, the one or more processors embodied in variousways. The one or more processors constructed in a manner sufficient toperform at least the operations described herein. In some arrangements,the one or more processors shared by multiple circuits (e.g., circuit Aand circuit B may comprise or otherwise share the same processor which,in some example arrangements, may execute instructions stored, orotherwise accessed, via different areas of memory). Alternatively oradditionally, the one or more processors structured to perform orotherwise execute certain operations independent of one or moreco-processors. In other example arrangements, two or more processorscoupled via a bus to enable independent, parallel, pipelined, ormulti-threaded instruction execution. Each processor implemented as oneor more general-purpose processors, application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital signalprocessors (DSPs), or other suitable electronic data processingcomponents structured to execute instructions provided by memory. Theone or more processors may take the form of a single core processor,multi-core processor (e.g., a dual core processor, triple coreprocessor, quad core processor, etc.), microprocessor, etc. In somearrangements, the one or more processors external to the apparatus, forexample the one or more processors a remote processor (e.g., a cloudbased processor). Alternatively or additionally, the one or moreprocessors internal and/or local to the apparatus. In this regard, agiven circuit or components thereof disposed locally (e.g., as part of alocal server, a local computing system, etc.) or remotely (e.g., as partof a remote server such as a cloud based server). To that end, a“circuit” as described herein may include components that aredistributed across one or more locations.

An exemplary system for implementing the overall system or portions ofthe arrangements might include general purpose computing devices in theform of computers, including a processing unit, a system memory, and asystem bus that couples various system components including the systemmemory to the processing unit. Each memory device may includenon-transient volatile storage media, non-volatile storage media,non-transitory storage media (e.g., one or more volatile and/ornon-volatile memories), etc. In some arrangements, the non-volatilemedia may take the form of ROM, flash memory (e.g., flash memory such asNAND, 3D NAND, NOR, 3D NOR, etc.), EEPROM, MRAM, magnetic storage, harddiscs, optical discs, etc. In some arrangements, the volatile storagemedia may take the form of RAM, TRAM, ZRAM, etc. Combinations of theabove are also included within the scope of machine-readable media. Inthis regard, machine-executable instructions comprise, for example,instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform acertain function or group of functions. Each respective memory devicemay be operable to maintain or otherwise store information relating tothe operations performed by one or more associated circuits, includingprocessor instructions and related data (e.g., database components,object code components, script components, etc.), in accordance with theexample arrangements described herein.

It should also be noted that the term “input device,” as describedherein, may include any type of input device or input devices including,but not limited to, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, joystick, or otherinput devices capable of performing a similar function. Comparatively,the term “output device,” as described herein, may include any type ofoutput device or output devices including, but not limited to, acomputer monitor, printer, facsimile machine, or other output devicescapable of performing a similar function.

Any foregoing references to currency or funds are intended to includefiat currencies, non-fiat currencies (e.g., precious metals), andmath-based currencies (often referred to as cryptocurrencies). Examplesof math-based currencies include Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and thelike.

It should be noted that although the diagrams herein may show a specificorder and composition of method steps, it is understood that the orderof these steps may differ from what is depicted. For example, two ormore steps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence.Also, some method steps that are performed as discrete steps may becombined, steps being performed as a combined step may be separated intodiscrete steps, the sequence of certain processes may be reversed orotherwise varied, and the nature or number of discrete processes may bealtered or varied. The order or sequence of any element or apparatus maybe varied or substituted according to alternative arrangements.Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included withinthe scope of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims.Such variations will depend on the machine-readable media and hardwaresystems chosen and on designer choice. It is understood that all suchvariations are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise, softwareand web implementations of the present disclosure could be accomplishedwith standard programming techniques with rule based logic and otherlogic to accomplish the various database searching steps, correlationsteps, comparison steps, and decision steps.

The foregoing description of arrangements has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed, andmodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings or may be acquired from this disclosure. The arrangements werechosen and described to explain the principals of the disclosure and itspractical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize thevarious arrangements and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. Other substitutions, modifications,changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions,and arrangement of the arrangements without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure as expressed in the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A method of providing virtual financial coaching to a usercomprising: obtaining, by a provider computing device, personalinformation related to the user; analyzing, by a user profile circuit ofthe provider computing device, the personal information that identifiesone or more traits of the user; creating, by the provider computingdevice, a baseline virtual coach having one or more coach features,wherein at least one of the coach features is based on at least onetrait of the user; transmitting, by the provider computing device, agraphical user interface that displays a mobile application on a displayof a user device, the graphical user interface including one or moreuser options where the user selects one or more features that are todefine a custom user virtual coach; creating, by the provider computingdevice, the custom user virtual coach based on features of the baselinevirtual coach and one or more feature selections received from the user,comprising: receiving, from the user via the mobile application, the oneor more feature selections relating to the baseline virtual coach;receiving, from the user via the mobile application, a financial goal ofthe user; setting, based on the selections and the financial goal, oneor more items, the one or more items being at least one of a tone ofcommunications, a positive or negative reinforcement scheme for thecommunications, a type of language used in the communications, an amountof feedback to provide the user, and a content type preference for thecommunications; modifying, by the provider user device, the one or morefeatures of the baseline virtual coach based on the financial goal inaccordance with the one or more items; and generating, by the providercomputing device, the custom user virtual coach comprising the one ormore modified features; feature selections received from the user;determining, by the provider computing device, based on the personalinformation of the user and one or more selections made by the user, afinancial goal of the user; generating, by the provider computingdevice, a communication to the user containing information related tothe financial goal of the user, wherein at least one feature of thecommunication is generated based on a modified feature of the customuser virtual coach; monitoring, by a coaching implementation circuit ofthe provider computing device, a usage frequency of each channel in aplurality of communication channels; selecting, by the coachingimplementation circuit, based at least in part on the usage frequency, acommunication channel from the plurality of communication channels;determining, by the coaching implementation circuit, at least onemonitored period of user usage of the display of the user device;determining, by the coaching implementation circuit, a communicationschedule, wherein the communication schedule is based on at least adesired time interval between communications, the at least one monitoredperiod of user usage of the display of the user device, and geolocationdata received from the user device; sending, via the communicationchannel and according to the communication schedule, by the providercomputing device, the communication to a display device associated withthe user; determining, by an adaptive circuit, at least one expecteduser behavior responsive to the communication sent to the displaydevice; analyzing, by the adaptive circuit, the geolocation data and atransaction history of the user during a predetermined intervaloccurring after the communication sent to the display device; assessing,by the adaptive circuit, an effectiveness of the custom user virtualcoach corresponding to the financial goal of the user, the assessmentbased at least in part on the at least one expected user behavior andthe analysis of the geolocation data and the transaction history of theuser; determining, by the adaptive circuit, at least one feature of thecustom user virtual coach to modify, the determined modification basedon the assessment of effectiveness corresponding to the financial goalof the user; and modifying, by the adaptive circuit, the at least onefeature of the custom user virtual coach.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the one or more personal traits of the user are obtained by theprovider computing device from a source of user personal informationthat is stored by an account database of the provider computing device.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more personal traits of theuser are obtained by the provider computing device from a source of userpersonal information that has been obtained through monitored usage of acomputing device by the user.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein at leastone of a content of the communication, the display device to which thecommunication is delivered, and a timing of when the communication istransmitted to the display device is selected based on a feature of thecustom user virtual coach.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaydevice is the same as the user device.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe display device is different than the user device.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, the method comprising: identifying, by the provider computingdevice, one or more benchmarks by which progress of the user towardsachieving the financial goal is measured; determining, by the providercomputing device, whether a benchmark from the one or more identifiedbenchmarks has been met; in response to determining that the benchmarkhas not been met, sending, by the provider computing device, an updatecommunication to one of the display device and the user device; and inresponse to determining that the benchmark has been met, sending, by theprovider computing device, an update communication to the other of thedisplay device and the user device.
 8. The method of claim 7, the methodcomprising updating, by the provider computing device, a coachingdatabase with information as to whether the benchmark has been met andinformation related to the features defining the custom user virtualcoach.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication comprises amessage that is configured to be displayed on a screen of the displaydevice, the communication including an avatar defined by visualcharacteristics that are based on at least one feature of the customuser virtual coach.
 10. The method of claim 1, the method comprisingupdating the features of the custom user virtual coach in response tonewly identified user personal information being obtained by theprovider computing device, wherein the newly identified user personalinformation is obtained through continued monitored usage of a computingdevice associated with the user.
 11. A system for providing virtualfinancial coaching: obtain, by a provider computing device, personalinformation related to a user; analyze, by a user profile circuit of theprovider computing device, the personal information that identifies oneor more traits of the user; create, by the provider computing device, abaseline virtual coach having one or more coach features, wherein atleast one of the coach features is selected based on at least oneidentified trait of the user; transmit, by the provider computingdevice, a graphical user interface displayed by a mobile application ona display of a user device associated with the user, the graphical userinterface including one or more user selectable options allowing theuser to select one or more features that are to define a custom uservirtual coach; create, by the provider computing device, the custom uservirtual coach based on features of the baseline virtual coach and theone or more feature selections received from the user, comprising:receive, from the user via the mobile application, the one or morefeature selections relating to the baseline virtual coach: receive, fromthe user via the mobile application, a financial goal of the user: set,based on the selections and the financial goal, one or more items, theone or more items being at least one of a tone of communications, apositive or negative reinforcement scheme for the communications, a typeof language used in the communications, an amount of feedback to providethe user, and a content type preference for the communications:modifying one or more features of the baseline virtual coach based onthe financial goal in accordance with the one or more items; andgenerating, by the provider computing device, the custom user virtualcoach comprising the one or more modified features; generate, by theprovider computing device, a communication to the user containinginformation related to the financial goal of the user, wherein at leastone feature of the communication is generated based on a modifiedfeature of the custom user coach; monitor, by a coaching implementationcircuit of the provider computing device, a usage frequency of eachchannel in a plurality of communication channels associated with theuser; select, by the coaching implementation circuit, based at least inpart on the usage frequency, a communication channel from the pluralityof communication channels; determine, by the coaching implementationcircuit, at least one monitored period of user usage of the display ofthe user device; determine, by the coaching implementation circuit, acommunication schedule, wherein the communication schedule is based onat least a desired time interval between communications, the at leastone monitored period of user usage of the display of the user device,and geolocation data received from the user device; send, via thecommunication channel and according to the communication schedule, thecommunication to a display device associated with the user; determine,by an adaptive circuit of the provider computing device, at least oneexpected user behavior responsive to the communication sent to thedisplay device; analyze, by the adaptive circuit, the geolocation dataand a transaction history of the user during a predetermined intervaloccurring after the communication sent to the display device; assess, bythe adaptive circuit, an effectiveness of the custom user virtual coachcorresponding to the financial goal of the user, the assessment based atleast in part on the at least one expected user behavior and theanalysis of the geolocation data and the transaction history of theuser; determine, by the adaptive circuit, at least one feature of thecustom user virtual coach to modify, the determined modification basedon the assessment of effectiveness corresponding to the financial goalof the user modify, by the adaptive circuit, the at least one feature ofthe custom user virtual coach.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein theone or more personal traits of the user are obtained from a source ofuser personal information that is stored by an account database of aprovider computing system.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the oneor more personal traits of the user are obtained from a source of userpersonal information that has been obtained through monitored usage of acomputing device by the user.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein atleast one of a content of the communication, the display device to whichthe communication is delivered, and a timing of when the communicationis transmitted to the display device is selected based on a feature ofthe custom user virtual coach.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein thedisplay device is the same as the user device.
 16. The system of claim11, wherein the display device is different than the user device. 17.The system of claim 16, wherein the system is configured to: identifyone or more benchmarks by which progress of the user towards achievingthe financial goal is measured; determine whether a benchmark from theone or more identified benchmarks has been met; in response todetermining that the benchmark has not been met, send an updatecommunication to one of the display device and the user device; and inresponse to determining that the benchmark has been met, send an updatecommunication to the other of the display device and the user device.18. The system of claim 11, wherein the communication comprises amessage that is configured to be displayed on a screen of the displaydevice, the communication including an avatar defined by visualcharacteristics that are based on at least one feature of the customuser virtual coach.
 19. The system of claim 11, the system configured toupdate the features of the custom user virtual coach in response to newuser personal information being obtained through continued monitoredusage of a computing device by the user.
 20. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having processor-readable instructions storedthereon such that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:obtain, by a provider computing device, personal information related toa user; analyze, by a user profile circuit of the provider computingdevice, the personal information that identifies one or more traits ofthe user; create, by the provider computing device, a baseline virtualcoach having one or more coach features, wherein at least one of thecoach features is selected based on at least one trait of the user;transmit, by the provider computing device, a graphical user interfacethat displays a mobile application on a display of a user deviceassociated with the user, the graphical user interface including one ormore user selectable options allowing the user to select one or morefeatures that are to define a custom user virtual coach: create, by theprovider computing device, the custom user virtual coach based onfeatures of the baseline virtual coach and one or more featureselections received from the user, comprising: receiving, from the uservia the mobile application, the one or more feature selections relatingto the baseline virtual coach: receiving, from the user via the mobileapplication, a financial goal of the user: setting, based on theselections and the financial goal, one or more items, the one or moreitems being at least one of a tone of communications, a Positive ornegative reinforcement scheme for the communications, a type of languageused in the communications, an amount of feedback to provide the user,and a content type preference for the communications: modifying one ormore items; and generating the custom user virtual coach comprising theone or more modified features; generate, by the provider computingdevice, a communication to the user containing information related tothe financial goal of the user, wherein at least one feature of thecommunication is generated based on a modified feature of the customuser virtual coach; monitor, by a coaching implementation circuit of theprovider computing device, a usage frequency of each channel in aplurality of communication channels associated with the user; select, bythe coaching implementation circuit, based at least in part on the usagefrequency, a communication channel from the plurality of communicationchannels; determine, by the coaching implementation circuit, at leastone monitored period of user usage of the display of the user device;determine, by the coaching implementation circuit, a communicationschedule, wherein the communication schedule is based on at least adesired time interval between communications, the at least one monitoredperiod of user usage of the display of the user device, and geolocationdata received from the user device; send, via the communication channeland according to the communication schedule, the communication to adisplay device associated with the user; determine, by an adaptivecircuit of the provider computing device, at least one expected userbehavior responsive to the communication sent to the display device;analyze, by the adaptive circuit, the geolocation data and a transactionhistory of the user during a predetermined interval occurring after thecommunication sent to the display device; assess, by the adaptivecircuit, an effectiveness of the custom user virtual coach correspondingto the financial goal of the user, the assessment based at least in parton the at least one expected user behavior and the analysis of thegeolocation data and the transaction history of the user; determine, bythe adaptive circuit, at least one feature of the custom user virtualcoach to modify, the determined modification based on the assessment ofeffectiveness corresponding to the financial goal of the user; andmodify, by the adaptive circuit, the at least one feature of the customuser virtual coach.